About the Standard Cochin Chicken

The Gentle Giants

Cochin chickens are known for their soft feathers and fluffy robust appearance. They have a round body, long silky plumage, feathered feet, and a single comb. They lay a fair number of brown or tinted small to medium eggs. You can expect approximately 2 eggs per week.

This breed may not be a prolific layer, but are still quite worthy for their broody tendencies, and their stunning appearance of course! They’re often used to hatch fertile eggs from other birds, however, don’t be in a big hurry, the Cochin is very slow to mature.

If your looking for a docile, peaceful, friendly, and easily handled breed, this buxom beauty is for you.

I find Cochins don’t fancy scratching around in the dirt as much as most other breeds. They are also not a fan of high perches. They prefer free roam, but confine quite well.

They’re considered a heavy breed weighing in at about 11 lbs for roosters, and 8 to 8.5 lbs. for hens.
Bantams: A hen will be just under 2 lbs. and the rooster, about 2 lbs.

The Cochin chicken breed arrived on the shores of Britain and America from the port of Shanghai, China in the mid 1800s. This fancy breed has a wide variety of colorful outfits, in buff, white, black, blue, partridge and cuckoo.

2 thoughts on “About the Standard Cochin Chicken”

Back in March, I added a couple of red cochin chicks to our box at the feed store last minute because they happened to have some and we have never tried them out before. I am hopeful they will be good mama hens for the flock and raise up a lot of chicks for us. Thanks for this description!